In Chapter 5 of Onward, Be Here Now, Elena Aguilar shares the disposition of humor: Humor helps you be here now. It yanks you out of the drama of an experience, away from ruminating over the past or worrying about the future, and plunks you in the present. And this is why on her Guidelines for Professional Development she has a check box for “Have you provided an opportunity for people to laugh.” This is such a powerful reminder.
So we may know that laughing is good for boosting our resilience, but I also love this study shared by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley that talks about the power of shared laughter. The article How Laughter Brings Us Together: New research suggests that people who laugh together like each other more talks about how “Even if laughing on your own might have positive social outcomes, there is a missed opportunity, because laughing at the same time as someone else might be particularly potent—and influential in relationships.”
How can you boost the collective resilience of your team by finding more ways to laugh together?